The interactive entertainment industry raked in $17.9 billion dollars in sales for 2007, a record-breaking year for an industry that continues to grow, thanks to products like the Wii and games like Rock Band opening up the market to new demographics. According to retail data research firm NPD, hardware and software sales rose by 43 percent in 2007 compared to 2006. Sales for December were an impressive $4.82 billion. Some of the key products driving this growth were Nintendo’’s DS and Wii, along with strong software sales — Call of Duty 4, Guitar Hero III, Halo 3, and Super Mario Galaxy.
First, the hardware: When you break the hardware numbers down, there are a few things worth noting; for one, the PlayStation 2 did extremely well in 2007 if you consider that system was left for dead by many software publishers. The PS2 moved a respectable 3.97 million units in total, with 1.1 million sold in the month of December alone. The life-to-date number: 41.12 million.
Likewise, PSP sales really picked up in 2007, with a total of 3.82 million units sold during the year, putting its installed user base at (life-to-date) 10.47 million — that’’s higher than almost every system except the PS2 and Nintendo DS. This year could be a banner year for the PSP if it starts to see more games like it did in the fourth quarter of 2007 (read: games players want). Here’’s a breakdown of hardware sales:
PS2: December — 1.1 million; Full Year — 3.97 million; Life-to-Date — 41.12 million
PS3: December — 797,600; Full Year — 2.56 million; Life-to-Date — 3.25 million
PSP: December — 1.06 million; Full Year — 3.82 million; Life-to-Date — 10.47 million
Wii: December — 1.35 million; Full Year — 6.29 million; Life-to-Date — 7.38 million
DS: December — 2.47 million; Full Year — 8.50 million; Life-to-Date — 17.65 million
Xbox 360: December — 1.26 million; Full Year — 4.62 million; Life-to-Date — 9.15 million
As you can see, the DS moved the most units in 2007, with the Wii following closely behind. For software, the top-selling games for December were:
Xbox 360: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision) — 1.47 million
Wii: Super Mario Galaxy — 1.40 million
PS2: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock — 1.25 million
Wii: Wii Play w/ remote — 1.08 million
Xbox 360: Assassin’s Creed — 893,700
Xbox 360: Halo 3 — 742,700
DS: Brain Age 2 — 659,500
PS2: Madden NFL 08 — 655,200
Xbox 360: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock — 624,600
Wii: Mario and Sonic: Olympic Games — 613,000
What is most interesting about December’’s numbers is that the PS2 version of Guitar Hero III was in the top three. This should give pause to publishers that are foolish enough to write off a system that still has lots of life left in it.
As for the best-selling games of 2007? Halo 3, Wii Play, Call of Duty 4 and — big surprise — Guitar Hero III for the PS2 were at the top of the pile. The PS3 failed to break into the top 10, while Sony’’s last-generation system managed to land three. Here’’s the full list:
Xbox 360: Halo 3 — 4.82 million
Wii: Wii Play w/ remote — 4.12 million
Xbox 360: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare — 3.04 million
PS2: Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock — 2.72 million
Wii: Super Mario Galaxy — 2.52 million
DS: Pok?mon Diamond Version — 2.48 million
PS2: Madden NFL 08 — 1.90 million
PS2: Guitar Hero 2 — 1.89 million
Xbox 360: Assassin’s Creed — 1.87 million
Wii: Mario Party 8 — 1.82 million
While Microsoft has got to be happy that Halo 3 sold more than any other game released during the year, that’’s not the big story here. The most telling data is the PS2′’s strong numbers. They show how viable the PS2 is in terms of software and hardware sales, especially for savvy third-party publishers.
But no matter how I read the numbers, you can expect the big three console makers to spin the numbers to their favor, and each will have a valid point to some degree in a year where gaming ruled.
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